On the way out of her house, a woman got a shock when confronted by a goggle-eyed creature with a yellow belly and gold rings on its fingers. After taking a photo of the strange animal, which was clinging to a garden gate post, she turned to social media to find out what on earth it was.

Some guessed a gecko, others a salamander. Worried it might be someone’s pet, one person urged the woman to take the exotic-looking critter to a pet shop before it froze to death. Another helpfully rang her vet for advice.

Most, however, pinned it down as a great crested newt. It turned out to have been the third one seen in the woman’s Flintshire garden in recent days. Which begged the question as to how a rare protected species ended up congregating in a suburban garden in the former industrial town of Buckley.

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The answer, it seems, might be pretty straightforward. In 2017, work finished on a new housing estate on a former brickworks site, part of which had been designated as a nature reserve. Even before 45 new ponds were dug for its inhabitants, Lane End Nature Reserve on the town’s outskirts was renowned for its newts.

One survey found 2,261 great crested newts and 31,483 small newts. Since then, nighttime surveys have been recording some of the highest concentrations of great crested newts anywhere in Wales.

Three years ago, the site was formally transferred to Wild Ground, a Wrexham-based conservation charity that manages 15 other mitigation sites in northeast Wales. Charley Duton, the charity’s senior environmental lead, said the gate post newt might have been a Lane End escapee.

“They can travel up to 1km from their ponds to breeding sites,” she said. “And with the warmer weather we’ve been having recently, it might be have been encouraged to emerge.” The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now – here’s how to sign up

To prevent it being squashed by the gate, the newt’s finder moved it to a safer place. The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “It was gone by the time I arrived home. My partner found another two by our front garden under some leaves. Amazing the wildlife you find in Wales!”

Thanks to their wavy ridgeline crests, great crested newts – otherwise known as the “warty newt”– resemble mini dinosaurs, according to the Wildlife Trusts. Only males have crests and only during the breeding season, making it tricky to determine the gender of the gate-post newt. All have gold-coloured rings on their fingers.

They hibernate underground from late autumn through winter, typically seeking out ponds from late January. They are fiercely protected: the UK Government warns builders to down tools immediately if they come across one, unless they have a licence. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

Handling them should be avoided but on occasion it may be necessary, in which case non-latex gloves are advised. Charley said: “Ideally they just be left alone – unless they’re in danger, like being in the middle of the road or about to be eaten by a cat.”

According to some eagle-eyed Facebook users, Buckley’s gate-clinging newt appears to have a tag on its back. Researchers occasionally attach mini transponders to great crested newts to monitor migrations, but tags are not really needed for identification: the pattern of dark dots on the yellow-orange undersides are as unique to each newt as a fingerprint.

• Formal visits to the fenced Lane End reserve can be arranged – not just by schools but also by community groups. For details, contact Wrexham-based Wild Ground on 01978 757524 or info@wild-ground.org.uk. You can find more details on the charity’s website here.

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